


The Secret that Bloomed

by MegumitheGreat



Series: SorMik Week 2017 [1]
Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Beginnings, Children, Innocence, M/M, Oneshot, Sormik Week 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 15:08:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11580576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegumitheGreat/pseuds/MegumitheGreat
Summary: Mikleo and Sorey think about their feelings for each other while tying flowers





	The Secret that Bloomed

**Author's Note:**

> Day 1: Innocence & Beginnings - Elysia
> 
> I always thought that the song Flora's Secret by Enya fit the two. Turns out the unintentional association of daisies around them means exactly what I was hoping for--innocence, youth, purity, and true love.

“You must always be at his side, protecting him and cherishing him both as his Sub-Lord and his most beloved companion, so that one day he will be able to fight against the Lord of Calamity as the next Shepherd,” Zenrus had told the infant Mikleo, who clutched Sorey’s blanket in his tiny hands.

Over the years, the old lightning seraph watched his boys grow, and as their bodies did, the love that he had worked hard to nurture bloomed like the flowers that surrounded their village safeguarded from the sins of humans. There was one day that the children picked a spot in a small patch of daisies and lupines to lounge about in near the entrance of Elysia. The sweet smell of the summer graced their noses, and they felt somewhat drowsy. Naturally, Sorey was never without his Celestial Record, and while Mikleo enjoyed reading it with him, he wanted to do something other than read the book for the umpteenth time.

“Sorey, I’m going to make a flower chain,” Mikleo told him. “Do you want to help?”

“Okay, but only for a little bit,” Sorey replied. “I want to read another part of the book!”

Lupines were hard to tie into a chain, so the boys settled with a daisy chain. It was almost like knitting, which was more of Sorey’s fancy. He had been learning from other seraphim how to sew and crochet and knit that intertwining the hair-like stems was second nature to him, even for such an early age. Sewing helped to sharpen the mind and eyes and to pay attention to the intricate details both in cloth and in life. Gently pulling the stems into knots, within seconds he had tied five daisies together.

Mikleo preferred to learn about plants and herbs for medical purposes. His interest in apothecaries had fostered the thirst for knowledge, especially since Sorey often injured himself while they explored around Elysia. Eventually he came to develop an interest in the meanings of flowers. It brought him so much joy to make little amateur bouquets that expressed how he felt to the other seraphim in the village. He hoped that one day he would be able to make a special bouquet for Sorey.

But why a specific bouquet for Sorey? He was only ten years old and a few months older than his human friend. The words that Zenrus had told him repeatedly in secret as he grew always echoed in the back of his head like a constant reminder as well as a motivation. He had to protect and cherish him, and he did. But those feelings ran deeper than just obligatory safeguarding and treasuring.

Those feelings were all around them in that patch of flowers. Sorey, happily and peacefully tying daisies together, didn’t seem human. He was like a work of art that tugged at Mikleo’s chest or an angel for the seraphim. The innocence that colored his cheeks as he occasionally looked up and smiled at the seraph reverberated with him. It felt like it purified the water that he had power over and made it pristine and crystal-clear. It erased all doubt that children could have; it made Mikleo feel safe, and if he was ever lost, those waters would become polluted with sorrow.

Daisies had a number of meanings that had its roots in all kinds of legends and myths. But the one meaning that Mikleo remembered in this scenery, at this time, with the person he had sworn his life to made a nervous heat prickle his face. The desire to stay with Sorey, not out of obligation but of his own free will, and the decision that he would do everything in his power to keep him safe—he decided that this was what those daisies meant.

“Mikleo, we should try to add some lupines in! It’s kind of boring to just have white flowers, and they look so pretty,” Sorey chirped.

“How can we add them?” Mikleo asked.

“Hmm,” Sorey hummed as he thought how the lupines could be attached. “How about the daisies are the bottom of the crown, and the lupines can be the spiky parts?”

“But we’re making a chain.”

“Okay, you can keep adding to the chain, and I’ll make a crown for you.”

For some reason, this made Mikleo’s heart skip a beat. Why a crown for him? He wanted to ask him, but he was content that Sorey would make him something so beautiful.

The reason that Sorey wanted to make him a crown was not only that the lupines were indeed beautiful and fragrant but that he was grateful that Mikleo was at his side. He found someone that would be there for him forever, and he was blessed with his beauty that made him almost pride. He could dote on him endlessly. One of such beauty and grace, poise and discipline needed a crown. He worked on it for him meticulously. His fingers were beginning to ache, but he wanted to make it as magnificent as he could imagine it. It couldn’t outshine Mikleo’s beauty, but it couldn’t be shabbily made. It had to be just perfect. But work so intense tired anyone who was that young. He was saddened, his feelings not fully materialized before him.

“Mikleo, I’m sorry,” he sniffled. “I’m so tired…and I didn’t get to finish your crown…”

Mikleo shook his head. He was perfectly okay with Sorey not finishing the crown since it was the thought that counted. As Sorey lay down with the Celestial Record in his hands, he watched Mikleo try his best to tie the daisies together. Once the chain was fifty daises long, and once Sorey had drifted off to sleep, Mikleo set it aside. He lay down close to him. The smell of sunflowers wafted from the chestnut head, mingling with his scent of rain to create a dreamy aroma.

His amethyst eyes that shined in the sunlight focused on the boy in front of him. They were only children, and to call these feelings—the happiness, the nervousness, the disappointment in not being able to provide—something like love now might have been too early by normal standards. Still, he was sure that it was love because all of these feelings only happened when Sorey was near him. And while Sorey had never explicitly reflected on how he felt other than admiring Mikleo both from afar and when he was close to him, he was sure he was in love.

Even being in each other’s company as they lazed in the grass and flowers was enough for them. Mikleo draped the chain of daisies over Sorey then picked up the unfinished crown with its share of the white flowers and lupines. It was sturdy, which was amazing for a multitude of flowers tied together.

Sorey snored lightly next to him, and Mikleo couldn’t help but wiggle his hand into his hand. In an earnest whisper, as if to only make himself heard in his dreams:

“I like you, Sorey.”

After Mikleo lent himself to sleep, Sorey peeked at him. “I like you, too, Mikleo,” he replied, tightening his grip on his hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully I can write the next one tonight! I don't know how to put images with fics, but I drew a related picture on Tumblr.


End file.
